The 2007 Transparency International
Corruption Perceptions Index

According to the annual survey by the Berlin-based organization
Transparency International, Finland, Denmark, and New Zealand are
perceived to be the world's least corrupt countries, and Somalia and
Myanmar are perceived to be the most corrupt. The index defines corruption
as the abuse of public office for private gain and measures the degree to
which corruption is perceived to exist among a country's public officials
and politicians. It is a composite index, drawing on 14 polls and surveys
from 12 independent institutions, which gathered the opinions of
businesspeople and country analysts. Only 180 of the world's 193 countries
are included in the survey, due to an absence of reliable data from the
remaining countries. The scores range from ten (squeaky clean) to zero
(highly corrupt). A score of 5.0 is the number Transparency International
considers the borderline figure distinguishing countries that do and do
not have a serious corruption problem.

Countries that have significantly improved their rating since the 2006
index were Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Dominica, Italy,
Macedonia, Namibia, Romania, Seychelles, South Africa, Suriname, and
Swaziland. Some of the countries that have a significantly worse rating
since 2006 include Austria, Bahrain, Belize, Bhutan, Jordan, Laos, Macao,
Malta, Mauritius, Oman, Papua New Guinea, and Thailand.